Stencil-frame.



F. D. BARNUM.

STENCIL FRAME. APPLIOATION FILED APR. 27, 1909.

952,781. Patented Mar. 22, 1910.

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FRANK D. BARNUM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO OLAUS C. WOLD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STENCIL-FRAME.

Application filed. April 27,

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK D. BARNUM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stencil-Frames, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates more particularly to the type of stencils generally used by card writers, and catalogue artists who employ the air brush in making signs for use in retail stores or similar establishments.

The object of the invention is to so construct the stencil frame that the stencil, either in the form of a single piece or in the form of a plurality of parts or characters, can be inserted and held within the frame in such manner as to permit the ink to be sprayed from the air brush or otherwise applied without interference from the guide wires which hold the stencil characters in place.

The invention is one which enables the user to repeatedly reproduce the same without change or deterioration, and also enables the user to make a multiplicity of different signs without reformation of the stencil characters in any way except as to change in position and arrangement, obviating the cutting of a new stencil for each individual sign, which is generally the method employed in card writing when a stencil is used in connection with an air brush or other similar device.

. A further object of the invention is to provide means for retaining the stencil characters in position over the card board, on which the sign is to be printed, in a manner to permit of its adjustment, and yet to hold the same sufiiciently firm to prevent movement while the ink or paint is being applied.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view, showing the stencil mounted in position, the stencil characters being provided with clips; Fig. 2 a side elevation of the stencil frame; Fig. 3 an enlarged perspective of one of the stencil letters or characters without the clips; Fig. at an enlarged cross sectional detail of the character of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 a detail view of one of the clip members.

The frame 5 consists of a base board 6 and an open frame 7, the latter having side rails 8, and top and bottom rails 9 and 10, respectively. The open frame is removably Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 22, 1910.

1909. Serial No. 492,445.

hinged to the base board by means of eyes 11 which engage hooks 12 of inverted L shape. The free end of the frame is adapted to be locked by means of a catch or catches 12 of any suitable description. Journaled in the top of the cover are a plurality of keys 18, preferably of the form employed in musical instruments for tightening the strings, but the type of key may, of course, be of any desired construction; and attached to the keys 13 are vertical wires 14. The wires most desirable to be employed are of fine gage, and of the type generally used upon musical instruments, which have suflioient strength to withstand the tightening necessary to hold the letters firmly in position. The wires extend from the keys under the top rail of the cover, and around the pins 15 driven in the side edge of the rail. Similar keys 13f are journaled in the side rail 8 and serve for the attachment thereto and adjustment of longitudinally extending wires 14 which underlie the vertical wires and adapted to be tightened to the desired extent by the keys.

The letters or characters 16 are preferably cut from thin paste board, and are adapted to interlie and be held in place by the vertical and longitudinal wires, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. If desired, the letters or characters may have attached thereto, on their upper faces, clips 17 which, as shown, are of U-shaped formation having a depressed portion 18 and shoulders 19. The depression 18 of the clip is a trifle larger than the wires 14, so that the letter may be easily placed in position when used, but the wires, being stretched somewhat tightly across the board, will bear downwardly with considerable spring tension, so that, when the letter is placed in position, the wire will hold it in firm contact against the paper upon which the sign is to be made, but the letter will still be capable of being moved up and down along the surface of the paper, without any difiiculty.

In use, when a sign is made, a sheet of paper or card is interposed between the base 5 and the cover 6, after which the cover is locked down and the letters placed in position. To secure these letters in place is very simple; all'that is necessary is to lift one of the wires sufiiciently to allow the letter to be slipped between the wires, after which the groove on the clip will engage one of the wires stretched across the board, and the letter will thus be retained against lateral movement. This, however, does not prevent the letter from being moved up and down until it reaches its proper positlon. This step will be repeated with the various letters until the sign is completed. In many cases it will be desirable to employ letters or characters without clips, in order to facilitate the vertical and horizontal adjustment of the characters, and this will be especially true in cases where the characters are of a nature to require slight variations in adjustment, which would be difficult if they were held in fixed relation to the vertical wires by the clips. In the use of letters of uniform height, which it is desirable to space with exact uniformity, the clips will facilitate such spacing without interfering with the vertical adjustment of the letters.

The wires between which the letters are interposed will bear against one another with sufficient tension to hold the characters firmly against displacement, which is essential in order to permit the open frame to be swung back from time to time, thereby permitting the removal of the completed sign and the insertion of a fresh card or aper.

The method of hinging the frame is one which permits the frame to be bodily removed from the base board to permit the substitution of an entirely different frame with a different stencil arranged therein, which is necessary in the making of certain classes of signs employing variegated colors adapted to be applied through stencils of different shapes. The present arrangement permits two or more of such frames to be initially fed with the stencils in proper register, so that, in the preparation of the signs, the work can progress rapidly, the stencil frames being positioned successfully on the base board until the sign is complete. Thereafter the same process can be repeated, whereby the user is enabled, in a short time, to produce a large number of signs, uniform in character and perfect in finish.

It will thus be seen that an unlimited variety of combinations can be made, so as to produce signs or designs of almost any description, and all that is necessary to accomplish this is to have a few sets of letters and characters of different designs. After the letters are placed in position, the air brush can be used to blacken the background of the paper, the wires being of such fine texture that the pigment will readily circle around them, so that no streaks will remain when the sign is completed.

TV here it is desired to reproduce the same sign, it is essential to inter-pose the stencil characters between the wires or to fixedly secure them to the wires in some other suitable manner, in order that the stencil may be fixedly held in position when the frame is raised; but, where the operator desires to form but a single sign, the stencil characters can be laid in position beneath both sets of wires and held in place thereby during the making of the sign, although, of course, the stencil as a whole will be thereafter disassembled when the work is removed.

VVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a backing for the work, an

open frame hinged to the backing and carrying guide members, and characters, having clips upon their upper faces which form means, when acting in conjunction with the guide members, for holding the characters against lateral movement but permitting vertical movement, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combinationo-f a backing for the work, an open frame hinged to the backing, means. for retaining the open frame in contact with the work, wires carried by the open frame, and characters, having clips upon their upper faces which form means, when acting in conjunction with the wires, for holding the characters against lateral movement but permitting vertical movement, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described the combination of a backing for the work, an open frame hinged to the backing, means for retaining the open frame in contact with the work. vertically extending wires passing on the under side of the open frame and fastened to the side wall-s of the upper and lower rails of the frame, and characters, having clips upon their upper faces which act, in conjunction with he wires, to form. means for holding the characters against lateral movement but permitting vertical movement, substantially as described.

a. In a device of the class described, the combination of a backing for the work, an open frame hinged to the backing, means for retaining the open frame in contact with the work, vertically extending wires passing on the under side of the open f'ame. wire fastening means, as adjusting keys, at one end, and fixed pins at the other end, and characters, having clips upon their upper faces which act, in conjunction with the wires, to form means for holding the characters against lateral movement but permitting vertical movement, substantially as described.

FRANK D. BARNUM. Vitnesses THOMAS J. TALBOT,

O. G. lVALn. 

